The RosTeR
LocoMotIves In focus
A27: Southern Railway olive green paint has been applied to the first driving wheelset of the Bluebell Railway ‘P’ 0-6-0T, and the corroded rear end of its frames has been removed for replacement. W2 Yarmouth (B110 Burgundy): During inspection of the ‘E1’ 0-6-0T’s motion at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, the number 9 has been found on an expansion link, proving this to date from its service at Cannock Wood Colliery. Patterns suitable for the Stroudley engine have been found while sourcing new castings for the line’s ‘Terriers’. W11: ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T Newport had its boiler barrel repainted and other paintwork re-varnished during the winter. It clocked up a total of 1,958 miles on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway in 2017. 825: The boiler of the Essex Locomotive Society’s Maunsell ‘S15’ 4-6-0 has returned to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway following overhaul. It only requires beading of the tubes and caulking of the side stays before a hydraulic test can be carried out. 1054: During winter maintenance on the LNWR ‘Coal Tank’ at Ingrow West, the Bahamas Locomotive Society found dry rot in one of the wooden spacers sandwiched between the buffer and bufferbeam. While this was being replaced, it was discovered that all four bufferheads were loose in the stocks, so their springs were also replaced. The buffers, running plate and dome received a repaint, while the front of the brick arch and the firebox door bolts were renewed. 3850: The first of two new cylinders for Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd’s ‘2884’ 2-8-0 was cast at the Shakespeare Foundry in early April. 4920: After nine years standing in open storage, Dumbleton Hall turned a wheel again at Buckfastleigh on April 12, when the track was slewed to reconnect its isolated siding. 4930: Hagley Hall’s boiler left the Severn Valley Railway on April 10 and was delivered to Northern Steam Engineering, Stockton, where it is to be overhauled for completion in summer 2019. Meanwhile, a pair of replacement cylinders were expected to be cast “imminently” (as this issue was going to press). The Friends of Locomotive 4930 Hagley Hall want to see the 4-6-0 return to steam in 2020, for the first time since it was withdrawn in 1986. Donations can be made online at www.svrtrust.org.uk or by texting HALL29 with your £amount to 70070. For more information, visit www.4930hagleyhall.org.uk 5552: With welding repairs completed on the copper inner firebox of the Bodmin & Wenford Railway’s ‘Small Prairie’, the new side stays are being fitted. The axleboxes are receiving new whitemetal bearings and being prepared for machining, while the frames and wheels have been repainted. The Collett ‘4575’ 2-6-2T was withdrawn for its ‘ten-yearly’ overhaul in late 2012. 6024: Since its frames were re-wheeled at the West Somerset Railway on March 15 (SR478), the first motion parts have been refitted to King Edward I – the radius rods and expansion links. Its springs, coupling and connecting rods, valves, vacuum cylinders and air pump are also ready for fitting, and the eccentric straps have been whitemetalled and machined. Its boiler is under overhaul at Riley & Son (E) Ltd, where the replacement three-quarter section of the firebox backplate and side stays have been fitted. The ‘King’s’ new ‘slimline’ outside cylinders, fitted to reduce its width for main line operation, have a bore of 15¾ inches, instead of the original 16¼in, with liners
fitted into the inside cylinders to match. However, by turning the tyres down, to keep the engine within Network Rail’s height limits – thus making the driving wheels 6ft 4in diameter, instead of the 6ft 6in with tyres of full thickness – the original tractive effort of 40,300lbs has been retained. 6984: All of Owsden Hall’s coupling rods are now in place at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway, and the left-hand connecting rod and piston have been fitted. It is hoped that the bottom half of the ex-Barry ‘Modified Hall’ 4-6-0 could be finished by June. All the vacuum brake and lubrication pipework is complete, with the steam-heating pipework to be connected up to the steam manifold in the cab. The firebox backhead cladding is nearly finished and once this is done, the cab fittings can be installed, although the boiler will be lifted from the frames again in order to complete final work and fit the tubes. 7828: New firebox stays are being fitted to Odney Manor’s boiler at Riley & Son (E) Ltd, while new smoke tubes and superheater flues have been ordered. 9351: The smokebox of the West Somerset Railway ‘Mogul’ has been trial-fitted, while all the motion is ready to receive new bushes, and the valves and pistons are ready to fit. 30053: The boiler of the Swanage Railway-based ‘M7’ 0-4-4T is being stripped for overhaul at the North Norfolk Railway’s Weybourne works, with the tubes removed. The next boiler in the queue behind it is from Southern Locomotives Ltd’s ‘West Country’ No. 34010 Sidmouth, which has been shotblasted and had its inner firebox throatplate removed. 30075: With the boiler of the Yugoslavian ‘USA’ 0-6-0T dispatched to Richard Vincent Engineering for overhaul (SR477), volunteers of owning group Project 62 are preparing to lift the bunker off the frames at Shillingstone station. The group’s other ‘YugoYankee’ tank, No. 30076, has been smartened up with a coat of red paint on both bufferbeams. Project 62 would like to express its thanks for several donations sent towards the overhaul, but with no address given for a reply. For more details, see www.project62.co.uk 32650: The replacement cylinder block has been permanently installed in the frames of LBSCR ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T ‘Sutton’ at the Spa Valley Railway, which in turn allowed the smokebox saddle to be refitted. The axleboxes are being machined and the cab roof has been repainted. 44422: The Fowler ‘4F’ 0-6-0 is undergoing a bottom end overhaul at the West Somerset Railway, including optical alignment of the axlebox horn guides, new big end brasses and repairs to the brake hangers. Its wheels have been sent to Riley & Son (E) Ltd for tyre turning. 45596: Crinolines for the cladding are being fitted to the boiler of LMS ‘Jubilee’ 4-6-0 Bahamas, which passed its steam test at Tyseley Locomotive Works on December 21 (SR476). Parts for a new ashpan have been delivered, while those for the superheater elements are ready for welding together, and smokebox fittings are being overhauled by the Bahamas Locomotive Society at its Ingrow West base. On the frames, a new exhaust injector steam pipe from the smokebox has been fitted, the original having been removed in the early 1960s to leave the exhaust injector working on live steam only. This injector has been overhauled by South Coast Steam of Portland and is ready to fit. Final reassembly of the middle engine is in progress, with the big
end re-metalled, machined and trial-fitted to the crank, while the steam pipe to the middle cylinder has been repaired. The tender moved from Ingrow to Tyseley in early February. 46428: A new smokebox has been delivered to the East Lancashire Railway for the Bury Standard 4 Group’s Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-0, and steel plates are being cut for a replacement rear dragbox. 60007: The roof of Sir Nigel Gresley’s tender corridor has been removed for repairs at the National Railway Museum. Rebuilding of the cab floor continues, and the reverser stand has been repainted. 69023: Following an inspection of the ‘J72’s’ boiler on February 19, the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group has decided to withdraw the locomotive for its ‘ten-yearly’ overhaul. It had been hoped that a full re-tube could allow the locomotive to run at the Wensleydale Railway until its boiler certificate expired on August 25 – but the firebox tubeplate had been weeping at boiler pressures above 130lbs/sq. in, and the costs of rectifying this problem could not be recovered from hire fees in the remaining time on the ticket. Subject to a full assessment of the locomotive’s condition, it is estimated that the overhaul might cost up to £140,000, of which £60,000-80,000 will be required for the boiler, but this sum does not include a replacement cylinder block. The NELPG committee has authorised the start of the overhaul, but as a long-term project to be carried out as finance and volunteer resources permit. 73050: Non-destructive testing on the boiler of ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 ‘City of Peterborough’ at the Nene Valley Railway has confirmed that most of it will need to be replaced; only the steel outer firebox backhead and throatplate, and the copper inner firebox, can be reused. As a result, Danish State Railways ‘F’ class 0-6-0T No. 656 ‘Tinkerbell’ has overtaken the ‘Standard Five’ in the NVR’s overhaul queue. A specification for No. 73050’s boiler repairs has been drawn up and estimates are being sought for a contract overhaul, with a fundraising appeal to follow once quotes are obtained (Peterborough City Council, which owns the locomotive, is providing £150,000 towards the overhaul). Its frames have been lifted off the wheels, and inspection of the cylinders and valve liners has confirmed that sufficient metal remains to allow re-boring – although the tender will need new tyres as the flanges are below the minimum acceptable thickness. 75079: The Mid-Hants Railway Preservation Society is appealing for £30,000 to build a new BR1B tender tank for its ex-Barry ‘4MT’ 4-6-0 (see also SR478). Donations can be made online at https://mydonate.bt.com/events/ standard4project/456788 76084: A new set of smoke tubes have been fitted into the North Norfolk Railway-based ‘4MT’ 2-6-0 as part of its winter maintenance, giving it a further five years of boiler ‘ticket’. 80097: All the cladding has now been trial-fitted to the boiler of the Bury Standard 4 Group’s BR 2-6-4T at the East Lancashire Railway, and the insulation is in place on the firebox backhead. The cladding will now be removed for painting, after which the boiler will undergo a final steam test and the ex-Barry locomotive will be reassembled for its first runs since 1965.